Democratic Republic of the Congo–Turkey relations

Turkey initially supported Leopold II’s pledge to “civilize” Congo, and recognized Congo Free State after the Berlin Conference in 1885.[2] This changed quickly after the public outcry in Turkey and other countries over harsh labor practices and atrocities committed against Congolese, who lived in a humiliatingly strict system of segregation, by the Belgians.[3] King Leopold II of Belgium would go on personally owning the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.[4]

Following independence, Turkey was one of the first to establish diplomatic relations with DR Congo.[5] Turkey, through mainly TIKA launched many programs, worth US$ 137 million in economic aid during the next 30 years.[6]

Despite its stance against coups d’état, Turkey quickly recognized the Mobutu Sese Seko government, following the United States on November 24, 1965.[7] Relations deteriorated when Mobutu broke diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973.[8] Despite the otherwise unfriendly relations at the time, both governments continued to support the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola and the Uniã Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola against the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola.[9] Relations improved dramatically in the 2000s.[10]

• Trade volume between the two countries was 163 million USD in 2015.[11]
• There are daily direct flights from Istanbul to Kinshasa since 2014.[12]

• Turkish Maarif Foundation runs schools in DR Congo.[13]

• Foreign relations of the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Foreign relations of Turkey

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• Dayal, Rajeshwar. Mission for Hammarskjöld: The Congo Crisis. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976.
• Devlin, Larry. Chief of Station, Congo: A Memoir of 1960–67. New York: Public Affairs, 2007.
• De Witte, Ludo. The Assassination of Lumumba. Trans. by Ann Wright and Renée Fenby. New York: Verso, 2003.
• Forbath, Peter. The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World’s Most Dramatic River. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.
• Galle, Hubert. Le Congo: De la découverte à l’indépendance. Brussels: Éditions J.M. Collet, 1983.
• Gibbs, David N. The Political Economy of Third World Intervention: Mines, Money, and U.S. Policy in the Congo Crisis. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
• Gondala, C. D. The History of Congo. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
• Grove, Brandon. Behind Embassy Walls: The Life and Times of an American Diplomat. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2005.
• Helmreich, Jonathan E. United States Relations with Belgium and the Congo, 1940–1960. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1998.
• Hempstone, Smith. Rebels, Mercenaries, and Dividends: The Katanga Story. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1962.
• Hoskyns, Catherine. The Congo since Independence: January 1960–December 1961. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.
• Hoyt, Michael P.E. Captive in the Congo: A Consul’s Return to the Heart of Darkness. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2000.
• Kabuya-Lumuna Sando, C. Histoire du Congo. Les quatre premiers présidents. Kinshasa: Secco and Cedi, 2002.
• Kalb, Madeleine. The Congo Cables: The Cold War in Africa, from Eisenhower to Kennedy. New York: Macmillan, 1982.
• Kalonda, Djessa, J. G. Du Congo prospère au Zaïre en debacle. Paris: Harmattan, 1991.
• Kelley, Sean. America’s Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire. Washington, D.C.: American University Press, 1993.
• Leslie, Winsome J. The World Bank and Structural Transformation in Developing Countries: The Case of Zaïre. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 1987.
• Mabiala Mantuba-Ngoma, P. “La nouvelle histoire du Congo. Mélanges eurafricains offerts à Frans Bontinck, C.I.C.M.” Cahiers Africains 65–66–67 (2004), pp. 1–365.
• Mandjumba Mwanyimi-Mbomba. Chronologie générale de l’histoire du Zaïre: Dès origines à 1988. 2nd ed. Kinshasa: Centre de Recherches Pédagogiques, 1989.
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• Muka. Vers le sommet du sport zaïrois et africain. Kinshasa: St. Paul Afrique, 1974.
• Namikas, Lise. Battleground Africa: The Cold War and the Congo Crisis, 1960–65. Doctoral diss. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 2001.
• Ndaywel è Nziem, Isidore. Histoire générale du Congo: De l’héritage ancien à la République Démocratique. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Duculot, 1997.
• Nzongola-Ntalaja, George. The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People’s History. London: Zed, 2002.
• Odom, Thomas. Dragon Operations: Hostage Rescues in the Congo, 1964–65. Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.: Combat Studies Institute, 1988.
• O’Ballance, E. The Congo-Zaïre Experience, 1960–1998. Basingstoke, England: Macmillan, 2000.
• O’Brien, Conor Cruise. To Katanga and Back: A U.N. Case History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1962.
• Peemans, Jean-Philippe. Le Congo-Zaire au gré du XXe siècle: État, économie société, 1880–1990. Paris: Harmattan, 1997.
• Schatzberg, Michael G. Mobutu or Chaos? The United States and Zaire, 1960–1990. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1991.
• Turner, Thomas. The Congo Wars: Conflict, Myth, and Reality. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
• Urquhart, Brian. “The Tragedy of Lumumba.” The New York Review of Books 48, no. 15 (2001).
• Van Horn, Carl. Soldiering for Peace. New York: David Mackay, 1967.
• Verbeek, Léon. Filiation et usurpation: Histoire socio-politique de la région entre Luapula et Copperbelt. Tervuren: MRAC, 1987.
• Wagoner, Fred E. Dragon Rouge: The Rescue of Hostages in the Congo. Washington, D.C.: National Defense Institute, 1980.Weiss, Herbert. Political * Protest in the Congo. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967.
• Weissman, Stephen R. American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960–1964. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1974.
• Wrong, Michela. In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo. New York: Harper Collins, 2001.
• Young, Crawford. Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965.
• Young, Crawford, and Thomas Turner. The Rise and Decline of the Zairean State. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985.